Hang up immediately: consumer center warns of dangerous scams

Created: 11/29/2022, 3:22 p.m

By: Vivian Werg

Internet and telephone scams are common.

Now the consumer advice center warns of a new scam.

Kassel – There are always annoying phone calls.

It becomes particularly tricky with calls from senders who are out to scam.

‌Many people believe that phone cheating is a problem that only affects bona fide old people.

However, this is by no means correct, because scammers use various scams to enrich themselves at the expense of their victims.

The Lower Saxony consumer advice center is currently warning citizens in Germany of a new telephone scam.

Many consumers reported calls in which the caller pretended to be a representative of the "Kanzlei der Verbraucherzentrale".

“These calls do not come from the consumer center,” warns them now on their website.

Beware of fraud: consumer advice center warns of the latest telephone scams

Annoying phone calls keep coming.

Critical are those who are looking for fraud (symbol image) © Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/ dpa

During the calls, the victims are informed that they allegedly owe thousands of euros to a lottery company.

A comparison is then offered.

Accordingly, the person called should transfer part of the outstanding amount to a specific account.

The Lower Saxony consumer advice center clearly advises against this.

Consumer center warns of telephone fraud: You can get help here

If you receive a call like this, you should definitely not respond and ideally hang up immediately.

These calls are not from the consumer advice center, but from scammers.

The consumer center offers advice on this in the form of offers over the phone, video or on site.

Anyone who has become the victim of unauthorized advertising calls can also report them to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).

If, on the other hand, you have become the victim of a con artist who wanted to get sensitive data such as passwords or bank details with the call, you can contact the law enforcement authorities, according to BNetzA.

A healthy level of suspicion and vigilance are important prerequisites for protecting yourself against telephone scams.

The following practical rules of conduct and tips from the police can protect you:

• Do not answer calls with withheld phone numbers.

• Do not call back an unknown phone number.

• Never pass on sensitive private data over the phone - neither verbally nor in the form of a PIN that is entered via the keyboard.

• If the caller asks for personal details, account or credit card numbers, access data, PIN and TAN numbers, this is a clear indication of an attempt at fraud.

• Don't answer "yes" but show agreement in some other way.

• Get the caller's name and check the company's name - scammers will often drop the call at this point.

• Immediately end calls that seem strange to you for any reason.

Fraud attempts are currently increasing.

Pensioners in particular should beware of new scams, for example in connection with the energy flat rate.

(Vivian Werg)